A direct comparison of the impact of experienced discrimination versus conventional potentially traumatic events

Experiences of discrimination have been shown to negatively impact mental health. These experiences include, but are not limited to, discrimination based on race, gender, sexual orientation, age, and socioeconomic status. Because experienced discrimination (ED) has been shown to produce similar negative downstream impacts (i.e., elevated posttraumatic stress disorder [PTSD] symptoms, depression, stress, and anxiety) as more conventional potentially traumatic events (CPTEs; e.g., sexual assault, natural disaster, car accidents), researchers have argued that discrimination events should be considered as qualifying for Criterion A for PTSD.

The current preregistered study directly compared the psychological impact of ED versus CPTEs. Using a within-subjects design, we asked a sample of 154 college students who reported ED to indicate their type of ED and their most distressing CPTE. Participants then completed measures of PTSD symptoms, perceived posttraumatic growth, and perceived posttraumatic depreciation in response to both their ED and their CPTE.

Results indicated that, when compared with CPTEs, ED was associated with lower levels of PTSD symptoms and higher levels of both perceived posttraumatic growth and perceived posttraumatic depreciation. Further, PTSD symptoms from ED evidenced a nonsignificant trend of predicting general mental health outcomes above and beyond the variance explained by PTSD symptoms from CPTEs.

We argue that discrimination events are underrepresented in trauma research and should be included when considering common types of potentially traumatic events. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).